January art - inspiration from the cold?

Minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit! Is it possible to draw artistic inspiration from the cold weather? In North Dakota we try not to let the temperature restrict our activities too much. We go to work, shop and some people play outside...cross country ski, hockey, skate. I'll do my daily walk outside if the wind chill temperature is zero or above. Otherwise I head to the fitness center.

But what kind of inspiration can I or my young students or others with artistic leanings draw from the icebox that we live in? Everything is white - the ground, the roofs, the trees, the sky, the exhaust coming from our constantly running furnaces, the breath we exhale. Snow beneath our feet crunches and squeaks as we step on it. We hear the beep, beep of snowplows in reverse, or the grinding of our neighbors' cars or snowblowers trying to start. We keep our hands covered as everything outside is too cold to touch. The only smells are of gas and exhaust. There is little else to jolt our senses, to stimulate our creative juices. We need to draw from deep within - like Frederick the mouse in the children's story - to remember colors, sights, sounds and smells that we want to convey in our art. These will warm our heART until spring comes to the north...and it will, just not very soon!

Happy New Year!

Tree Ornaments

Have any of you tried making tree ornaments that birds will appreciate next spring? I'm giving it a whirl with my art kids on Monday. We'll be stringing nuts (my husband was kind enough to drill holes in all of them- he's a peach!), cranberries, raisins, grapes and other edible things.

We'll tie those strings to a dogwood branch and stick the branch in the bottom of a milk carton. We'll tie the other end of the strings to another dogwood branch and set that on the top of the carton. Then we'll add water and little pieces of string and different colors of yarn as we fill up the carton. We'll set the whole business outside (it's been -18 degrees here - yikes!) until it freezes solid.

After it is a solid, pretty ice cube we'll tie some jute to the top branch and hang it in one of our bare trees. Hopefully, it'll be a pretty ornament to glisten through our long winter. The birds will start coming back after it has started melting and they can enjoy our little treats, and the strings will come in handy for their nest building.

I'll take a photo and post it - so you know if it works, or not!

PS What is your pet peeve during the holiday season? Mine is people who don't understand the concept of waiting in line, or else understand it and don't think it should apply to them!

May God bless your Saturday!